Labor Day Blues

When I was a kid, our neighborhood had a block party the last Sunday in August every year to "celebrate" Labor Day.  It centered at the D'Aprile's house, but was played out on the whole block.  It was a great time!  Good food.  Good friends.  Neighborhood kids roaming wild into the night.  One year was particularly memorable;  Mrs. D'Aprile went into labor and delivered a son. The party went on, even though she was at the hospital laboring away.  I used to love those parties and running wild with the neighborhood kids.  However, I still can recall that awful sense of dread that filled me when I'd go to bed.  School.  Work. Schedules. Ugh.

Labor Day is my least favorite "holiday."  What can you say about a day that signals the end of fun and the return to a regular work schedule? Yes, I know I am retired.  I know I don't have to go to work. However, once again, committee meetings will command assigned evenings on my schedule. The pool is closed, even if the day is a sunny sweltering ninety degrees.  Routine. Requirements. Short, short days.  And eventually winter.  Yep, nothing much to celebrate about Labor Day, is there?

Maybe..... Maybe not.

Barack Obama believes Americans should celebrate Labor Day because workers are the foundation of civilization:

It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.

However, I suspect many more of you are willing to celebrate Labor Day for the same reason Bill Dodds does:

Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day.  It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken.  


Whatever the reason, fire up the barbeque and enjoy your weekend!